Question regarding carving

[Mentally Unstable]

I am just starting to take on HR monsters and from the monster field guide, I see that some of them have very rare gem materials in parts of their body. For example, the anjanath has an ajanath gem in a couple of parts including the tail.

My question is in relation to to the tail specifically. Since the field guide states that one of the possible carves for the tail itself is a gem, my question is do I have to cut off the tail first then carve it for that chance of a gem drop or do I have to keep the tail intact on the monster then kill and carve from it? Or either way presents the same chance of dropping the gem?

[Suzaku]

You'll have to cut off and carve a tail to get loot from it. Other body parts can be broken to offer additional rewards shown at the rewards screen at the end of a hunt.

Note that carving and capturing actually offer the same rewards, and capturing offers more rewards, so it's the ideal way to finish a monster unless you want to continue fighting for the chance to break/cut more parts off.

[Apothecaryᴿˣ]

You only get a “tail” carve if you cut it off first (meaning a carve from a tail). You can get a tail material from the body, but the tail is just as extra carve if you can sever it. If you want gems, generally you’ll kill the monster so that you can carve from the body and have a chance at getting a gem. Gems can come from either the tail or the body.

[Mentally Unstable]

Originally posted by Suzaku:

You'll have to cut off and carve a tail to get loot from it. Other body parts can be broken to offer additional rewards shown at the rewards screen at the end of a hunt.

Note that carving and capturing actually offer the same rewards, and capturing offers more rewards, so it's the ideal way to finish a monster unless you want to continue fighting for the chance to break/cut more parts off.

I see, thank you for the clarification. The reason I'm asking is because I have been cutting off the tails(eg Anjanath and Rathian) yet whenever I carve them, I only get the actual tail as a material and not the gems. Guess RNG really isn't on my side.

[Mentally Unstable]

Originally posted by Apothecaryᴿˣ:

You only get a “tail” carve if you cut it off first (meaning a carve from a tail). You can get a tail material from the body, but the tail is just as extra carve if you can sever it. If you want gems, generally you’ll kill the monster so that you can carve from the body and have a chance at getting a gem. Gems can come from either the tail or the body.

Thank you for the reply. This is where I'm confused. Does cutting off the tail affect my chances of getting a gem as a carve from the tail itself? Or do I have to leave the tail intact on the monster's body to have a chance at the gem drop from the tail itself? That is to say, if I cut off the tail, the carve from it will always be the tail material itself and not a gem?

[Suzaku]

Tail carves seem to be pretty random, as I've gotten plenty of other basic materials from them besides tails and gems. Gem drop chance is very, very low, so it's not surprising to not see one in many hunts. Your best bet for gem farming is to run investigations with gold reward boxes.

[Mentally Unstable]

Originally posted by Suzaku:

Tail carves seem to be pretty random, as I've gotten plenty of other basic materials from them besides tails and gems. Gem drop chance is very, very low, so it's not surprising to not see one in many hunts. Your best bet for gem farming is to run investigations with gold reward boxes.

Thank you for the advice.

[Apothecaryᴿˣ]

Originally posted by Mentally Unstable:

Originally posted by Apothecaryᴿˣ:

You only get a “tail” carve if you cut it off first (meaning a carve from a tail). You can get a tail material from the body, but the tail is just as extra carve if you can sever it. If you want gems, generally you’ll kill the monster so that you can carve from the body and have a chance at getting a gem. Gems can come from either the tail or the body.

Thank you for the reply. This is where I'm confused. Does cutting off the tail affect my chances of getting a gem as a carve from the tail itself? Or do I have to leave the tail intact on the monster's body to have a chance at the gem drop from the tail itself? That is to say, if I cut off the tail, the carve from it will always be the tail material itself and not a gem?

No the probability of getting a gem from a carve isn’t affected if you cut off the tail. In fact, if you don’t cut off the tail, you have less of a chance at getting a gem because you’re missing out on the extra carve. Failing to sever the tail doesn’t affect chances or anything, just that you lose out on the extra carve. So say the standard is 3 carves from the body, no tail cut (for monsters that aren’t elders or Xeno since they have more carves than usual). If you cut off the tail, then you get 4 carves and all 4 of these carves have a chance at yielding a gem.

[Mentally Unstable]

Originally posted by Apothecaryᴿˣ:

No. In fact, if you don’t cut off the tail, you have less of a chance at getting a gem because you’re missing out on the extra carve. Failing to sever the tail doesn’t affect chances or anything, just that you lose out on the extra carve. So say the standard is 3 carves from the body, no tail cut (for monsters that aren’t elders or Xeno since they have more carves than usual). If you cut off the tail, then you get 4 carves and all 4 of these carves have a chance at yielding a gem.

Thank you for the clarification!

[Apothecaryᴿˣ]

Originally posted by Mentally Unstable:

Originally posted by Apothecaryᴿˣ:

No. In fact, if you don’t cut off the tail, you have less of a chance at getting a gem because you’re missing out on the extra carve. Failing to sever the tail doesn’t affect chances or anything, just that you lose out on the extra carve. So say the standard is 3 carves from the body, no tail cut (for monsters that aren’t elders or Xeno since they have more carves than usual). If you cut off the tail, then you get 4 carves and all 4 of these carves have a chance at yielding a gem.

Thank you for the clarification!

No problem. But I will say, if it’s gems you’re after, you’ll get more mileage out of investigations with silver and gold rewards. If you do these and manage to get broken parts, tail cut, etc, your chances at a gem are pretty good (from carves, quest rewards, and investigation rewards). Or you can do the weeklies, get the gold wyverian print, and cash it in at the elder melder.

[Moodyman90]

I'm probably restating what others have said, but from what I understand the best way to get gems, outside of just pure luck, is:
1. do investigations with silver and gold rewards,
2. wear at least two pieces of Legiana armor ( the set bonus can increase quest rewards),
3. three pieces of Kirin set (the set bonus is increased rewards for capturing)
4. using a voucher to get the Lucky Cat bonus from the Lucky Liquior platter (even more chance of increased quest rewards)
5. breaking every part of the monster as you can and cutting their tails as well to carve it
6.finally capturing the monster so the Kirin set actually works.

That's how you max out getting drops and from there it's pure luck for gems and plates

Will note, since you can't capture Elder Dragons, the Kirin set bonus won't help you so armor builds can be opened up some more. If you're feeling risky you can also swap out the Lucky platter for the Brew Lovers for extra carves.

There's a couple of other armor sets, those you get for doing arena quest and getting the coins if I remember correctly, that will increase quest rewards and carve chances as well, but they require you to wear four pieces of their armor so you can mix them like the Legiana and Kirin sets.